Method of improving the production of biomass or a desired product from a cell

ABSTRACT

The production of biomass or a desired product from a cell can be improved by inducing conversion of ATP to ADP without primary effects on other cellular metabolites or functions which is achieved by expressing an uncoupled ATPase activity in the cell and incubating the cell with a suitable substrate to produce the biomass or product. This is conveniently done by expressing in the cell the soluble part (F 1 ) of the membrane bound (F 0 F 1  type) H +  ATPase or a portion of F 1  exhibiting ATPase activity. The organism from which the F 1  ATPase or portions thereof is derived, or in which the F 1  ATPase or portions thereof is expressed, may be selected from prokaryotes and eukaryotes. In particular the DNA encoding F 1  or a portion thereof may be derived from bacteria and eukaryotic microorganisms such as yeasts, other fungi and cell lines of higher organisms and be selected from the group consisting of the gene encoding the F 1  subunit β or a portion thereof and various combinations of the gene or portion with the genes encoding the other F 1  subunits or portions thereof. The method can be used i.a. for optimizing the formation of biomass or a desired product by a cell by expressing different levels of uncoupled ATPase activity in the cell, incubating the cell on a suitable substrate, measuring the conversion rate of substrate into biomass or the desired product at each level of ATPase expression, and choosing level of ATPase expression at which the conversion rate is optimized.

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/310,630, filed Dec. 5, 2002 and now abandoned, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/254,504, filed Aug. 4, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,836. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/254,504 is a U.S. National Phase Application under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Patent Application Serial No. PCT/DK97/00373, filed Sep. 8, 1997, and which claims the benefit of Denmark Patent Application Serial No. 0963/96, filed Sep. 6, 1996.

This invention relates to a method of improving the production of biomass or a desired product from a cell by inducing conversion of ATP to ADP without primary effects on other cellular metabolites or functions. The invention also relates to a method of optimizing the production of biomass or a desired product from a cell utilizing this first method. The desired product may for example be lactic acid produced by lactic acid bacteria and ethanol or carbondioxide produced by yeast.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A wide range of microorganisms are used for the production of various organic compounds and heterologous proteins. One example hereof is the production of lactic acid and other organic compounds by the lactic acid group of bacteria, which results in the acidification and flavouring of dairy products, better known as cheese and yougurt production.

From the microorganism's point of view, the organic compounds which are excreted from the cells are often merely the by-product of a process that is vital to the cells: the production of various forms of free energy (ATP, NAD(P)H, membrane potential, etc.). Therefore, although many of the microorganisms which are being employed in these processes are reasonably well suited for the purpose, there is still a great potential for optimizing the productivity of these organisms when looking from the bioreactor point of vue. Likewise, the production of heterologous proteins by a microorganism is not what the organism was adapted for and also here there is a potential for optimization.

Often when microorganisms are engineered for the purpose of optimizing an industrial production process, the reactions leading to the desired product will affect the delicate balance of co-factors involved in the energy metabolism of the cell. For instance if the glycolytic reactions producing lactate from sugar were somehow to be enhanced (e.g. by overexpressing the glycolytic enzymes) this would automatically lead to the convertion of ADP to ATP. The ratio between the concentrations of ATP and ADP is usually quite high in the growing cell ([ATP]/[ADP]>10), and when the ratio [ATP]/[ADP] changes, the sum of [ATP] and [ADP] still remains virtually constant. Therefore, if in the example above, the enhanced production of ATP changes the [ATP]/[ADP] ratio from 10 to say 30, this will only marginally affect the concentration of ATP. The ADP concentration however will change by a factor of three. The cells will then hardly feel the surplus of ATP but the ADP pool in the cells may be depleted to such an extent that reactions in which ADP is a co-factor or allosteric regulator will be suppressed by the lack of ADP. The result may be that the total flux through the pathway (here through glycolysis) is only marginally increased. In the future, this situation is likely to occur more frequently, as the productivity of bioreactors are optimized by other means, and in these cases, it will be even more important (compared to the normal cell) to regenerate the ADP from ATP, in order to further increase the productivity.

Previously, attempts have been made to decrease the intracellular ATP concentration in yeast, employing sets of reactions which together form futile cycles, see EP patent No. 245 481. Often, the first reaction of a futile cycle is part of the regular metabolic network of the cell, for instance the phosphorylation of a glycolytic intermediate, coupled to the utilisation of ATP. The second reaction, which may also sometimes be part of the metabolic network, then de-phosphorylates the glycolytic intermediate without regenerating the ATP that was consumed in the first process, the overall effect being that a high energy phosphate bond is consumed. The limited success that this strategy has had so far, is probably due to the fact that it is impossible to obtain a significant futile flux without decreasing the concentration of the phosphorylated intermediate, thereby disturbing the cellular function and ultimately the growth. In addition, when the approach is to decrease the concentration of a glycolytic intermediate, this will effectively remove the substrate for the remaining part of the glycolysis, which will often result in a decreased flux through this pathway, rather than the desired increased flux.

Other strategies have been to use chemicals such as dinitrophosphate to stimulate the activity of the plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase by the addition of uncouplers of the membrane potential, or to genetically express the enzyme acid phosphatase in the cytoplasm, an enzyme that will remove phosphate groups from organic metabolites and proteins. However, both of these approaches suffer from the same inherent problem: they are unspecific and a range of cellular reactions/concentrations may be affected. For instance, the acid phosphatase will remove phosphate groups from essential metabolites and proteins, thus disturbing various metabolic fluxes and metabolic regulation. The uncoupling of the plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase will disturb the intracellular pH in addition to the gradient of numerous ions across the cytoplasmic membrane. Besides, the addition of chemicals such as dinitrophosphate is undesirable for most purposes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The idea of the invention is to use a highly specific and clean way to increase the intracellular level of ADP, which does not suffer from the limitations described above: to express in a well-controlled manner an enzyme that has ATP-hydrolytic activity in the living cell without producing other products and without coupling this activity to energy conservation. Such an enzymatic activity is of course not likely to be found in a normal cell, because the cell would then loose some of its vital energy reservoir.

Accordingly the present invention provides a method of improving the production of biomass or a desired product from a cell, the method being characterized by expressing an uncoupled ATPase activity in said cell to induce conversion of ATP to ADP without primary effects on other cellular metabolites or functions, and incubating the cell with a suitable substrate to produce said biomass or product.

One of the normal enzymes that comes closest to the ideal ATP-hydrolyzing enzyme, is the membrane bound H⁺-ATPase. This huge enzyme complex consists of two parts, the membrane integral part (F₀) and the cytoplasmic part (F₁). Together the two parts couples the hydrolysis of ATP to ADP and inorganic phosphate (P_(i)), to translocation of protons accross the cytoplasmic membrane, or vice versa, using the proton gradient to drive ATP synthesis from ADP and P_(i).

The method of the invention is conveniently carried out by expressing in said cell the soluble part (F₁) of the membrane bound (F₀F₁ type) H⁺-ATPase or a portion of the F₁ exhibiting ATPase activity.

The membrane bound H⁺-ATPase complex is found in similar form in prokaryotic as well as eukaryotic organisms, and thus F₁ and portions thereof expressing ATPase activity can be expressed in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.

The organism from which the F1 ATPase or portions thereof is derived, or in which the F1 ATPase or portions thereof is expressed, may be selected from prokaryotes and eukaryotes, in particular from bacteria and eukaryotic microorganisms such as yeasts, other fungi and cell lines of higher organisms, in particular bakers and brewers yeast.

A particularly interesting group of prokaryotes to which the method according to the invention can be implemented, i.a. in the dairy industry, are lactic acid bacteria of the genera Lactococcus, Streptococcus, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus and Leuconostoc, in particular strains of the species Lactococcus lactis and Streptococcus thermophilus. Other interesting prokaryotes are bacteria belonging to the genera Escherichia, Zymomonas, Bacillus and Pseudomonas, in particular the species Escherichia coli, Zymomonas mobilis, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas putida.

In an expedient manner of carrying out the method according to the invention the cell is transformed or transfected with an expression vector including DNA encoding F₁ or a portion thereof exhibiting ATPase activity under the control of a promoter functioning in said cell, and said DNA is expressed in the cell. Said DNA encoding F₁ or a portion thereof may be derived from a prokaryotic or a eukaryotic organism, and it may be either homologous or heterologous to said cell.

The F₁ part of the bacterial H⁺-ATPase complex consists of several subunits that together are responsible for catalyzing ATP hydrolysis: the β-subunit is thought to carry the actual hydrolytic site for ATP hydrolysis, but in vitro ATPase activity requires that the β-subunit forms a complex together with the α- and γ-subunit (α₃γβ₃). The activity of this complex is modulated by the ε-subunit, so that the in vitro activity of the α₃γβ₃ε complex is five fold less than the α₃γβ₃ complex.

In a specific embodiment of the method according to the invention said DNA encoding F₁ or a catalytic active portion thereof, is derived from Escherichia coli, Streptococcus thermophilus or Lactococcus lactis and is selected from the group consisting of the gene encoding the F₁ subunit β or a catalytically active portion thereof and various combinations of said gene or portion with the genes encoding the F₁ subunits β, α, γ and ε or catalytically active portions thereof.

In particular said DNA encoding F₁ or a portion thereof may be selected from the group consisting of the Escherichia coli, Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactococcus lactis genes atpHAGDC (coding for subunits δ, α, γ, β, ε), atpAGDC (coding for subunits α, γ, β, ε), atpAGD (coding for subunits α, γ, β), atpDC (coding for subunits β, ε) and atpD (coding for subunit β alone).

Particularly interesting eukaryotes are the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Phaffia rhodozyma or Trichoderma reesei, and the DNA encoding F₁ or a portion thereof may be derived from such organisms and is selected from the group consisting of the gene encoding the F₁ subunit β or a portion thereof and various combinations of said gene or portion with the genes encoding the other F₁ subunits or portions thereof.

Vectors including DNA encoding the soluble part (F₁) of the membrane bound (F₀F₁ type) H⁺-ATPase or a portion of F₁ exhibiting ATPase activity, derived from the lactic acid bacteria Lactococcus lactis and Streptococcus thermophilus and from the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Phaffia rhodozyma or Trichoderma reesei are also comprised by the invention as well as expression vectors including such DNA under the control of a promoter capable of directing the expression of said DNA in a prokaryotic or eukaryotic cell.

Specific vectors according to the invention are plasmids including DNA encoding the soluble part (F₁) of the membrane bound (F₀F₁ type) H⁺-ATPase or a portion of F₁ exhibiting ATPase activity, said DNA being derived from Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris (SEQ ID No. 1), Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis (SEQ ID No. 6), Streptococcus thermophilus (SEQ ID No. 10), Phaffia rhodozyma (SEQ ID No. 14), and Trichoderma reesei (SEQ ID No. 16).

Further, the invention provides a method of optimizing the formation of biomass or a desired product by a cell, the method being characterized by expressing different levels of uncoupled ATPase activity in the cell, incubating the cell on a suitable substrate, measuring the conversion rate of substrate into biomass or the desired product at each level of ATPase expression, and choosing a level of ATPase expression at which the conversion rate is optimized.

Often, but not always, the optimization of a given product flux produced by a cell will entail the attainment of either maximum or minimum conversion rate of a substrate.

In an expedient manner of practicing this method of the invention a number of specimens of said cell are transformed or transfected with their respective expression vector each including DNA encoding a different portion of the cytoplasmic part (F₁) of the membrane bound (F₀F₁ type) H⁺-ATPase up to and including the entire F₁, each portion exhibiting ATPase activity, said DNA in each expression vector being under the control of a promoter functioning in said cell, incubating each cell specimen on a suitable substrate, measuring the conversion rate of substrate into biomass or the desired product in each specimen, and choosing a specimen yielding an optimal conversion rate. In a particular embodiment of this manner, which is especially suited for scientific studies, the promoter in each expression vector is an inducible promoter, and each cell specimen is grown at different concentrations of inducer in order to fine-tune the optimal conversion rate.

In a preferred manner of practicing the above method of optimizing the performance of a cell a number of specimens of said cell are transformed or transfected with their respective expression vector including DNA encoding a portion of the cytoplasmic part (F₁) of the membrane bound (F₀F₁ type) H⁺-ATPase up to and including the entire F₁, said portion exhibiting ATPase activity, said DNA in the respective expression vectors being under the control of each of a series of promoters covering a broad range of promoter activities and functioning in said cell, incubating each cell specimen on a suitable substrate, measuring the conversion rate of substrate into biomass or the desired product by each specimen, and choosing a specimen yielding an optimal conversion rate. In a more preferred embodiment of this manner, which is well suited to establish an optimal production strain, the respective expression vectors include DNA encoding different such portions of F₁ up to and including the entire F₁, each DNA in respective expression vectors being under the control of each of a series of promoters covering a broad range of promoter activities and functioning in said cell.

Also in this method of the invention the DNA encoding a portion of F₁ up to and including the entire F₁ may be derived from a prokaryotic or a eukaryotic organism, and it may be either homologous or heterologous to said organism. The specific DNAs mentioned above may also conveniently be employed in this method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1. A linear representation of the plasmids constructed for modulating the cellular [ATP]/[ADP] ratio in E. coli (not drawn to scale).

FIG. 2. Effect of induction of F₁-ATPase activity on the growth of E. coli in batch culture. Cells were grown for more than 10 generations in minimal medium supplemented with glucose (0.4 g/l), ampicillin (0.1 g/l) and the indicated concentration of inducer, IPTG.

FIG. 3. Effect of ATPase expression on the intracellular concentration of ATP and ADP (concentration in arbitrary units), and on the ratio [ATP]/[ADP].

FIG. 4 Effect of increased ATPase expression on the glycolytic flux.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Many biosynthetic reactions in the living cell (anabolism), require an input of free energy (ATP), which is generated through a series of degrading reactions (catabolism). In the aerobic cell, there are two routes for ATP synthesis: 1) substrate level phosphorylation, where an energy rich phosphoryl group is transferred directly from a high energy intermediate metabolite to ADP, and 2) oxidative phosphorylation, where the free energy is first transformed into redox free energy by oxidizing the energy source, then into a proton gradient by respiration and finally the proton gradient is used by the H⁺-ATPase to drive ATP synthesis from ADP and inorganic phosphate. In other cases, e.g. anaerobic growth, there is only the first route, substrate level phosphorylation, that can be used for ATP synthesis. An example hereof is the homolactic LAB, where lactose is converted through the glycolytic pathway to lactic acid, which is excreted from the cells and thereby lowers the pH of the growth medium (usually milk products). With respect to ATP generation, homolactic fermentation is a very inefficient process, and only four moles of ATP are produced from 1 mole of lactose through substrate level phosphorylation.

The anabolic (ATP consuming) and catabolic (ATP producing) fluxes are normally well balanced in the living cell, and therefore, in the wild-type cell under normal growth conditions, the catabolic fluxes will be proportional to the anabolic fluxes. If a reaction is introduced that for instance hydrolyzes ATP in the cell and thereby lowers the cellular energy state (i.e. the [ATP]/[ADP] ratio), then either catabolism should increase or anabolism (growth) should decrease in order to make the consumption rate equal the production rate again. Which of these two scenarios will take place depends on whether, initially, the growth rate of the cell is limited through anabolism or through catabolism, i.e. whether there is a surplus or a shortage of energy in the cell to begin with. If there is a shortage of energy, then the rate of the anabolic reactions is limited by catabolism and these reactions will be sensitive to changes in the cellular energy state. Introduction of an ATP-hydrolyzing reaction is then most likely to affect the growth rate of the cells. On the other hand, if there is a surplus of energy, then the growth rate will be limited mainly by the anabolic reactions; the rate of anabolism will be insensitive to a decrease in the energy state, but the catabolic rate may increase due to a decrease in product inhibition at lower [ATP]/[ADP] ratio.

In vitro, the F₁ part of the H⁺-ATPase complex has been shown to have ATPase actitity, see above. But so far nobody has managed to use the F₁ complex to stimulate the glycolytic flux, or even to show that the F₁ complex can hydrolyze ATP in intact cells. Indeed, when we first tried to overexpress the F1 complex, consisting of the genes for the subunits α, γ, β and ε, this had virtually no effect on the growth of E. coli, even when the genes were transcribed from the maximally induced tac promoter and on a very high copy number vector (derived from pUC18). One skilled in the art of gene expression in E. coli will appreciate that this combination is one of the most efficient expression systems that exists for this organism.

We then decided to try to express different combinations of subunits of the F1 complex, in order to see if other combinations of subunits would be more powerful. Plasmids were constructed containing various combinations of the genes encoding the F₁ part of the bacterial F₁F₀-ATPase complex from E. coli. The genes were expressed, either from an inducible (lac-type) promoter at various concentrations of inducer or from a series of constitutive promoters of varying promoter activity. These plasmids should express various levels of ATPase activity when introduced into the bacterial cell. Depending on which F₁ genes are present on the plasmid and the strength of the promoter which is used to drive the expression, we observed various degrees of inhibition of the growth of the cells harbouring these plasmids. Surprisingly, the beta subunit alone and in combination with the epsilon subunit turned out to be far more active in vivo than the entire F1 complex.

The objective of this work was to affect the energy state of the cells, as reflected in the ratio [ATP]/[ADP]. We therefore measured the intracellular concentration of ATP and ADP in growing cells expressing various activities of F₁-ATPase. Indeed the ATP concentration decreased slightly with increasing ATPase activity and the ADP concentration increased, and therefore the [ATP]/[ADP] ratio decreased (the effect on the ATP concentration was less than the effect on the ADP concentration as expected, see above). We also calculated the glycolytic flux through the cells with various levels of ATPase activity. We found that the flux through the glycolytic pathway was first stimulated with increasing expression of ATPase activity, until a certain (optimal) ATPase activity which gave maximal glycolytic flux. Further increase of ATPase expression resulted in a lower glycolytic flux, due to a secondary effect of the ATPase activity on the growth of the cells. This emphasizes the need for optimization of gene expression rather than merely overexpressing the genes.

EXAMPLE 1 ATP Hydrolysis and Enhanced Glycolytic Flux in Escherichia coli, using an Inducible Promoter

Restriction enzymes, T4 DNA polymerase, calf intestine phosphatase (CIP) were obtained from Pharmacia.

Procedures for DNA isolation, cutting with restriction enzymes, filling in sticky DNA ends with T4 DNA polymerase in the presence of dATP, dCTP, dGTP and dTTP, treatment with calf intestine phophatase to remove phosphate groups from 5′ DNA ends and ligation of DNA fragments are carried out by standard methods as described by Maniatis et al., 1982.

Extraction and Measurement of ATP and ADP

0.9 ml of cell culture was mixed with 0.9 ml of (80° C.) phenol (equilibrated with 10 mM Tris, 1 mM EDTA pH=8) and immediately vortexed vigorously for 10 seconds. After 1 hour at room temperature the sample was vortexed again for 10 seconds and the two phases were separated by centrifugation at 14000 rpm for 15 minutes, and then residual phenol in the water phase was removed by extraction with 1 volume of chloroform. ATP and ADP concentrations were then measured, using a luciferin-luciferase ATP monitoring kit (obtained from and used as recommended by LKB, except that 3 mM of phosphoenol-pyruvate was added). [ATP] was measured first. Subsequently the ADP in the same sample was converted to ATP by adding pyruvate kinase, and [ADP] was recorded as the concomitant increase in luminescence.

Construction of Plasmids Carrying Combinations of the E. coli atp Genes

The following combinations of E. coli genes coding for F₁ subunits were chosen for expressing ATPase activity in E. coli: 1. atpAGDC (subunits α, γ, β, ε), 2. atpAGD (subunits α, γ, β), 3. atpDC (subunits β, ε), and 4. atpD (subunit β alone).

Cloning of Fragments Carrying atp Genes Onto pUC19

The plasmid pBJC917 (von Meyenburg, K., et al., 1984) which carries the entire atp operon was cut with

1) the restriction enzyme DraIII, and a 5009 bp DNA fragment containing the atpAGDC genes was isolated;

2) the restriction enzymes DraIII and Tth111I, and a 4106 bp DNA fragment containing the atpAGD genes was isolated;

3) the restriction enzymes DraIII and SacII, and a 2364 bp DNA fragment containing the atpDC genes was isolated;

4) the restriction enzymes AvaI and Tth111I, and a 1472 bp DNA fragment containing the atpD gene was isolated.

In all four cases the fragments were then treated with T4 DNA polymerase to create blunt ends, and subsequently the fragments were ligated into the cloning vector pUC19 (Yanisch-Perron et al., 1985) which had been cut with SmaI and treated with CIP.

The four ligation mixtures were transformed into the E. coli strain JM105 (Yanisch-Perron et al., 1985), and the transformation mixtures were plated on LB (Luria-Bertani broth; Maniatis et al., 1982) plates containing 100 μg/ml ampicillin and 75 μg/ml 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-Dgalactoside (X-gal). In this strain background (JM105), plasmids formed by religation of pUC19 will give blue colonies, whereas plasmids that carry foreign DNA fragments inserted into the SmaI site of pUC19, will give white colonies. A number of white colonies from the four transformations were therefore picked for further analysis: plasmid DNA was isolated and analysed by cutting with various restriction enzymes. Clones were identified from each of the four series which had the desired fragment inserted into the SmaI site of pUC19, and in the proper orientation. These four plasmids were named, respectively: pATP-AGDC, pATP-AGD, pATP-DC and pATP-D, with reference to the specific atp genes carried by the plasmid.

Cloning Combinations of the atp Genes Under the Control of an Inducible (tac) Promoter

In order to be able to control the expression of the ATPase activity, we selected the expression vector pTTQ18 (Starck, 1987). This vector is a derivative of pUC18 (Yanisch-Perron et al., 1985), which carries a tac promoter and the lactose repressor gene, lacI. Immediately downstream of the tac promoter is a multiple cloning site (MCS; the polylinker from pUC18) in which genes can be inserted to be expressed from the tac promoter. The tac promoter is of the lac-type, i.e. repressed by the lactose repressor and inducible with isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG).

The four plasmids, pATP-AGDC, pATP-AGD, pATP-DC and pATP-D were cut with KpnI and XbaI, which gave the four DNA fragments, 5023, 4120, 2378 and 1486 respectively. After purification, the fragments were ligated into the cloning vector, pTTQ18, which had also been cut with KpnI and XbaI (see FIG. 1). The ligation mixtures were transformed into E. coli K-12 MC1000 (Casabadan and Cohen, 1980), and the transformation mixtures were plated on LB plates containing 100 μg/ml ampicillin. A number of colonies from the four transformations were therefore picked for further analysis: plasmid DNA was isolated and analysed by cutting with various restriction enzymes. Clones were identified from each of the four series which had the desired fragment inserted into the MCS of pTTQ18 in the proper orientation. These four plasmids were named, respectively: pTAC-AGDC, pTAC-AGD, pTAC-DC and pTAC-D, with reference to the specific atp genes carried by these plasmid and the tac promoter used for their expression. For the purpose of subsequent physiological studies, the plasmids were transformed into the E. coli K-12 strain LM3118, which is used routinely for physiological experiments in this laboratory. The corresponding names for the LM3118 strain carrying these four plasmids are PJ4332, PJ4333, PJ4335 and PJ4334, respectively.

Effect of Induction of ATPase Activity on the Growth of E. coli on Plates

The strains containing the four plasmids were streaked on LB plates containing ampicillin (100 μg/ml) and 1 mM of IPTG which should give maximum expression from the tac promoter. Table I shows how the four strains responded: the strain carrying plasmid pATP-AGDC, which contains the genes for the four subunits, α, γ, β and ε, was only very slightly affected in growth, even in the presence of 1 mM IPTG. The other three plasmids, pTAC-AGD, pTAC-DC and pTAC-D caused severe growth inhibition in the presence of 1 mM IPTG, where colonies were no longer visible. With intermediate concentrations of IPTG, 0.01 mM and 0.1 mM, the plasmids affected the growth of their host cells to different extents: pTAC-AGD was the most active, giving rise to a strong inhibition of growth already with 0.01 mM IPTG, a concentration which gave only a slight inhibition with the plasmid pTAC-DC and no inhibition of the strain with pTAC-D. With 0.1 mM IPTG, colonies were hardly visible for the strain that carried the pTAC-AGD, the plasmid pTAC-DC caused strong growth inhibition, whereas the effect of pTAC-D was significant but small.

TABLE I 0.01 mM 0.1 mM 1 mM Strain Plasmid −IPTG IPTG IPTG IPTG PJ4332 pTAC-AGDC ++++ ++++ ++++ +++ PJ4333 pTAC-AGD ++++ ++ + − PJ4335 pTAC-DC ++++ +++ + − PJ4334 pTAC-D ++++ ++++ ++ − ++++ = normal colony size; +++ = slight inhibition; ++ = ½ normal size; + = 1/10 normal size; − = no growth

The effect of ATPase expression from the four plasmids above was also studied in the E. coli mutant LM3115, in which the entire atp operon on the chromosome is deleted, but which grows with almost wild-type growth rate on LB medium. With this strain transformed with the four plasmids we observed a similar pattern of growth inhibition on LB plates as a function of IPTG concentration. This shows that the effect of ATPase expression was independent of the presence of the normal atp operon.

Effect of Induction of ATPase Activity on the Growth of E. coli in Liquid Cultures

The effect of induction of ATPase was also studied with cells grown in liquid cultures. For this purpose we chose the strain PJ4333, carrying the plasmid PTAC-AGD, because this plasmid appears to be the most active with respect to the inhibitory effect on the of growth of E. coli. FIG. 2 shows the growth of PJ4333 in minimal medium supplemented with a limiting concentration of glucose (0.4 g/l) and ampicillin (0.1 g/l), without IPTG and in the presence of increasing concentrations of IPTG. We observed that the growth rate of the strain was practically constant (within some 10%) with increasing amounts of IPTG up to about 30 μM. At higher than 40 μM IPTG, the growth of the cells were slightly inhibited, in accordance with the experiments on plates, see above.

However, what was affected was the final density of cells that one obtains from the limited amount of glucose that was included in each culture: The more ATPase that is expressed in the cells, the lower the yield of cell mass. Apparently, the cells become less economic with respect to converting the glucose into biomass, or in other words they consume more glucose per cell synthesized. If this is due to the expression of ATPase activity, then we would expect to see an effect hereof on the energy state of the cells. We therefore measured the concentrations of ATP and ADP in the cells growing with different expression levels of ATPase activity.

Indeed, the intracellular ATP concentration decreased gradually and the ADP concentration increased, with increased expression of ATPase; therefore the [ATP]/[ADP] ratio decreased with increased expression of ATPase, which imply that the increased glucose consumption is the result of increased ATP convertion to ADP, see FIG. 3. The actual flux of glucose through the cells (J_(gluc), mmol glucose/g cell dry weight/hour) is also interesting, because this value tells us whether the performance of the cell increased as the ATPase activity increased. J_(gluc) can be calculated from the yield, Y (g cell dry weight/mol glucose) and the specific growth rate of the culture, μ (1/hours): J _(gluc)=μ/Y

FIG. 4 shows how the flux of glucose changed as the activity of ATPase increased: the glycolytic flux increased gradually as the ATPase expression increased, until a maximum was reached (at 30 μM IPTG). Further increase of ATPase expression had a slightly negative effect on the glucose flux. This was probably because the energy state of the cells became so low that this had a negative effect on some anabolic reactions, since the growth rate was lower for the culture that was grown in the presence of 40 μM IPTG.

The expression of subunits of the F₁ part of the bacterial H⁺-ATPase lowers the energy state of the bacterial cell. This is due to hydrolysis of ATP into ADP and P_(i). The expression of ATPase activity does not affect the growth rate of E. coli much at low levels of expression, but the efficiency by which the substrate is converted into biomass was strongly reduced. Under the set of conditions used here, the expression of ATPase activity has a stimulatory effect on the rate by which the cells consumes the exogenous glucose.

EXAMPLE 2 Expression of F₁-ATPase Activity from Constitutive Promoters in E. coli

In example 1 we used a lac-type promoter system to modulate the expression of the F₁ ATPase subunits in E. coli. However, for the optimization of gene expression for instance in industrial bioreactors or for the use in fermented food products, the use of lac type promoters is not always feasible. In this example we illustate the optimization of F₁-ATPase expression in E. coli, using a series of constitutive promoters of different strength, to control the expression of the atpAGD genes which here originates from E. coli. The constitutive promoters (CP promoters) were selected from a library of artificial promoters which had previously been cloned onto a shuttle vector for E. coli and L. lactis, PAK80 (Israelsen et al., 1995) as described in our co-pending PCT patent application PCT/DK97/00342. The selected plasmid derivatives of pAK80 were pCP34, pCP41 and CP44 (CPX cloning vectors). The atpAGD fragment from pTAC-AGD (from example 1) was first subcloned in a polylinker in order to have the atpAGD fragment flanked by two BamHI sites. Subsequently, this BamHI fragment was cloned into the unique BamHI site downstream of the CP promoters on the plasmids pCP34, pCP41 and CP44, resulting in the plasmids, pCP34::atpAGD, pCP34::2atpAGD, pCP41::atpAGD and CP44::atpAGD, where pCP34::2atpAGD contains two atpAGD fragments in tandem.

Subsequently, the strains were characterized with respect to growth rate, growth yield and glycolytic flux in glucose minimal medium supplemented with 200 μg/ml erythromycin, essentially as described in example 1, see table 2.

The expression of the F₁-ATPase subunits had a slightly negative effect on the growth rate as the expresion level increased. The effect on growth yield was much stronger and at the highest expression level the growth yield had dropped to 40% of the initial value. The glycolytic flux was stimulated 70% at the highest expression level of ATPase, and at this expression level the growth rate was lowered by 30%.

TABLE 2 Effect of expression of uncoupled F₁-ATPase activity (E. coli α, γ, β subunits) in E. coli Biomass Glucose yield Growth flux gdw/mmol rate, μ mmol glucose/ Biomass Growth Glucose Plasmid glucose h−1 h/gdw yield % rate % flux % pCP41 0.067 0.47 6.9 100 100 100 pCP41::atpAGD 0.047 0.42 9.1 69 90 131 pCP34 0.063 0.41 6.6 100 100 100 pCP34::atpAGD 0.034 0.34 9.9 54 81 149 pCP44 0.067 0.44 6.5 100 100 100 pCP44::atpAGD 0.027 0.30 11.2 40 69 172

EXAMPLE 3 Expression of E. coli F₁-ATPase Activity from Constitutive Promoters in L. lactis

The plasmids from example 2 which express the E. coli F₁-ATPase subunits to various extent are also capable of replicating in L. lactis, and could therefore be used to test whether the E. coli F₁-ATPase subunits can be used to hydrolyse ATP in L. lactis.

The plasmids pCP34::atpAGD, pCP34::2atpAGD and pCP41::atpAGD, were transformed into the L. lactis subspecies cremoris strain, MG1363, which is used routinely for physiological experiments in this laboratory. In addition we transformed the respective vectors, pCP34 and pCP41 in order to have proper control strains. Subsequently, the resulting transformants were characterized with respect to growth rate, growth yield and glycolytic flux, in comparison to the respective vectors, pCP34 and pCP41, by growing the various cultures in defined medium (SA medium) supplemented with a limiting concentration of glucose (0.1%), see table 3.

TABLE 3 Expression of E. coli F₁-ATPase in L. lactis Biomass Glucose yield Growth flux gdw/mmol rate, μ mmol glucose/ Biomass Growth Glucose Plasmid glucose h−1 h/gdw yield % rate % flux % pCP34 0.073 0.664 9.161 100 100 100 pCP34::atpAGD 0.071 0.653 9.230 97.5 98.3 100.8 pCP34::2atpAGD 0.069 0.655 9.560 94.6 98.7 104.4 pCP41 0.072 0.645 8.925 100 100 100 pCP41::atpAGD 0.070 0.590 8.461 96.5 91.5 94.8

The results show that the plasmids pCP34::atpAGD and pCP34::2atpAGD did affect the growth yield and the glycolytic flux to some extent, but the plasmids were far less efficient in L. lactis, compared to E. coli. This was probably a consequence of a lower expression of the E. coli ATPase subunits, or some of these, in L. lactis, due to a lower copy number of the pAK80 vector in L. lactis (5-10), and due to differences in the translational efficiency of the three individual atp genes which originates from E. coli. The plasmid pCP41::atpAGD also resulted in a lower growth yield, indicating that also in this case uncoupled ATP hydrolysis was taking place. However, the pCP41::atpAGD plasmid had a relatively strong inhibitory effect on the growth rate and therefore the glycolytic flux was not increased by this plasmid. It is possible that the heterologous expression of E. coli ATPase subunits resulted in growth inhibition due to effects other than ATP hydrolysis, e.g. by interfering with the function of the L. lactis F₁F₀ H⁺-ATPase complex.

EXAMPLE 4 Expression of L. lactis F₁-ATPase Subunits β and ε, in L. lactis

In the example above we showed that the expression of F₁-ATPase subunits from E. coli in L. lactis, resulted in only a small stimulation of the glycolytic flux. It is possible that the heterologous expression of E. coli ATPase subunits resulted in growth inhibition due to effects other than ATP hydrolysis, e.g. by interfering with the function of the L. lactis F₁F₀ H⁺-ATPase complex. In the present example we have expressed the L. lactis F₁-ATPase subunits, β and ε, in L. lactis, as this appeared to be an effective combination of subunits when expressed in E. coli, see example 1. The atpDC_(Llc) genes from L. lactis subspecies cremoris (SEQ ID No. 1) was cloned on a 2.5 kb HindIII fragment into the HindIII restriction site on the standard cloning vector, pBluescript, into E. coli K-12, strain BOE270. Subsequently, the atpDC_(Llc) genes were cut out on a 2.5 kb BamHI-SalI fragment and cloned into 5 expression vectors, pCP32, pCP34, pCP37, pCP41 and pCP44 which had been digested with BamHI and SalI, resulting in the plasmids pCP32::atpDC_(Llc), pCP34::atpDC_(Llc), pCP37::atpDC_(Llc), pCP41::atpDCL_(lc) and pCP44::atpDC_(Llc), respectively, where the lacLM genes downstream of the CP promoters, have been replaced with the atpDC_(Llc) genes. These plasmids should express the L. lactis F₁-ATPase subunits, β and ε, to different extent. The plasmids were then transformed into MG1363 with selection for the erythromycin resistance carried by these vectors. Experiments were then performed to test whether the constructs resulted in convertion of ATP into ADP in L. lactis. The strains carrying the different constructs was then grown in GM17 medium supplemented with 5 μg/ml erythromycin. The plasmids did not have a strong effect on the growth rate of the cultures, which remained close to the growth rate of the respective vector control plasmids. The yield of biomass, however, decreases for all the cultures by up to 17%, which shows that the cultures did indeed express uncoupled ATPase activity, see table 4.

TABLE 4 Effect of expression of L. lactis β and ε subunits on acid production by L. lactis, at 30° C. and with initial pH 6.7. Acid formation, Biomass* relative to biomass* Plasmid OD₄₅₀ Final pH* % of vector pCP34 5.08 4.27 100 pCP34::atpDCllc 4.72 4.31 98.0 pCP41 4.66 4.34 100 pCP41::atpDCllc 5.21 4.24 113.5 pCP37 4.89 4.28 100 pCP37::atpDCllc 4.63 4.24 116.1 pCP32 4.86 4.34 100 pCP32::atpDCllc 3.95 4.36 116.9 Each value is the average of 3-4 independent cultures. The acid production was calculated from the pH change, and normalized by the biomass produced.

The GM17 growth medium used in these experiments contains a surplus of glucose (1%), and growth only stops when the pH of the growth medium becomes lower than approximately pH 4.3. To some extent, this mimics the situation that the lactic acid bacteria experience during cheese and yougurt production. In this medium, the growth yield, in terms of the final cell mass of the cultures, reflects the acid production by these cultures.

In these cultures, the expression of F₁-ATPase subunits will increase three fold at approximately OD600 equal to 1.5. This is a consequence of the three fold amplification of the plasmid copy number that has been shown to take place at this point of the growth curve. In reality, the effect of expressing the F₁-ATPase subunits may therefore be larger.

To test this hypothesis, we grew some of the strains which expressed the L. lactis F₁-ATPase subunits β and ε in batch cultures of GM17 medium which had been adjusted to pH 5.9, see Table 5. In addition, the temperature of the growth medium may also affect the plasmid copy number and thus the expression of the F₁-ATPase subunits. The experiments were therefore performed at 37° C.

TABLE 5 Effect of expression of L. lactis β and ε subunits on acid production by L. lactis, at 37° C. and with initial pH 5.9. Acid formation, Biomass* relative to biomass* Plasmid OD₄₅₀ Ffinal pH* % of vector pCP34 1.24 4.95 100 pCP34::atpDC_(llc) 1.06 4.87 141.4 pCP37 1.00 4.96 100 pCP37::atpDC_(llc) 0.58 4.92 188.4

Clearly, the effect of the F₁-ATPase activity was much stronger under these growth conditions: the amount of acid produced was almost doubled for the strain carrying the plasmid pCP37::atpDC_(11c).

EXAMPLE 5 Expression of the F₁-ATPase Subunits, α, γ, and β, from L. lactis Subspecies cremoris in L. lactis Subspecies cremoris

In example 4, only the L. lactis F₁-ATPase β and ε subunits were expressed in L. lactis. However, from the experiments with E. coli (example 1), we know that the simultaneous expression of subunits α, γ, and β, is a more powerful combination, which could also be the case for L. lactis. In order to obtain the same strong stimulation of the glycolytic flux and acid production in L. lactis, a set of vectors similar to the vectors described in example 4 was constructed, in which the atpAGD_(Llc) genes derived from L. lactis, encoding the subunits α, γ, and β (SEQ ID No. 1) was expressed from CP promoters with different activities. The atpAGD_(Llc) genes from L. lactis was cloned on a 2.5 kb BamHI-SalI fragment into the 5 vectors, pCP32, pCP34, pCP37, pCP41 and pCP44, resulting in the plasmids, pCP32::atpAGD_(Llc), pCP34::atpAGD_(Llc), pCP37::atpAGD_(Llc), pCP41::atpAGD_(Llc), pCP44::atpAGD_(Llc), respectively, where the lacLM genes downstream of the CP promoters, has been replaced with the atpAGD_(Llc) genes. These plasmids will express the L. lactis F₁-ATPase subunits α, γ, and β, to different extent. The plasmids were transformed into MG1363 with selection for the Erythromycin resistance carried by these vectors. Experiments were then performed to show that the constructs were effective in ATP hydrolysis in L. lactis and to what extent the glycolytic flux was enhanced, by growing the five different constructs in GM17 medium supplemented with erythromycin, and measuring the growth rate, ATP and ADP concentrations, the yield of biomass and the rate of acid production.

EXAMPLE 6 Expression of F₁-ATPase Subunits from L. lactis subsp lactis, in L. lactis subspecies lactis

In the examples 3-5 above, we used the strain L. lactis subsp. cremoris, MG1363. This strain is plasmid-free and is used routinely in our laboratory as a simple model organism for our physiological studies. But strains belonging to the subspecies lactis are also important in cheese production. We therefore cloned and sequenced the at-pAGD_(Lll) genes from L. lactis subsp. lactis, (SEQ ID No. 6). Subsequently, a 4.2 kb fragment habouring the at-pAGD_(Lll) genes was cloned into 5 vectors, pCP32, pCP34, pCP37, pCP41 and pCP44, resulting in the plasmids, pCP32::atpAGD_(Lll), pCP34::atpAGD_(Lll), pCP37::atpAGD_(Lll), pCP41::atpAG_(Lll), pCP44::atpAGD_(Lll), respectively. These plasmids were then transformed into L. lactis subsp. lactis as described in example 3. The resulting strains with different expression levels of the F₁-ATPase subunits α, γ and β were then used to characterize the effect hereof on the growth yield, growth rate, glycolytic flux, and the cellular energy state of L. lactis subsp. lactis, as described in the examples 1-5.

EXAMPLE 7 Expression of F1-ATPase Subunits from S. thermophilus, ST3, in S. thermophilus, ST3

In the examples 3-6 above, we used strains of the genus Lactococcus. These strains are important in cheese production. As starter cultures for yougurt production, the dairy industry often uses strains of S. thermophilus. We therefore cloned and sequenced the atpAGD_(St) genes from S. thermophilus, strain ST3 (SEQ ID No. 10). Subsequently, a 4.2 kb fragment habouring the atpAGD_(St) genes was cloned into the 5 vectors, pCP32, pCP34, pCP37, pCP41 and pCP44, resulting in the plasmids, pCP32::atpAGD_(St), pCP34::atpAGD_(St), pCP37::atpAGD_(St), pCP41::atpAGD_(St), pCP44::atpAGD_(St), respectively. These plasmids were then transformed into S. thermophilus strain ST3. The resulting strains have different expression levels of the F₁-ATPase subunits α, γ, and β, and were then used to characterize the effect hereof on the growth yield, growth rate, glycolytic flux, and the cellular energy state of S. thermophilus, as described in the previous examples.

EXAMPLE 8 Expression of a Truncated F₁-ATPase β subunit from Phaffia rhodozyma in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In this example we show that uncoupled F₁-ATPase expression can also be used to hydrolyze ATP in yeast cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A cDNA gene library was prepared from total RNA, isolated from Phaffia rhodozyma, by cloning the cDNA fragments into the expression vector, pYES2.0. One of the resulting plasmids, pATPbeta, gave rise to an ade⁺ phenotype in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain, W301, which carries a mutation in the ADE2 gene. Sequencing of the clone revealed a 0.9 kb insert, which encoded a protein of 254 amino acids (SEQ ID No. 14). The encoded protein had a very high homology to the C-terminal part of F₁-ATPase β subunits from other organisms, prokaryotic as well as eukaryotic, including the β subunit from S. cerevisiae (86% identity).

The ADE2 mutation results in starvation for an intermediate further down in the purine metabolism, AICAR (which under normal conditions is produced by ADE3, two steps further down in this pathway). AICAR is essential for de novo biosynthesis of AMP and GMP, and ADE2 mutants therefore need an alternative purine source in the growth medium. However, there is an alternative route for synthesis of AICAR which involves some of the genes involved in histidine biosynthesis. These genes are normally repressed under the conditions used for the complementation, but when the HIS3 gene is introduced on a plasmid, this complements the ADE2 mutation because the cells start to produce AICAR. Since AICAR is a precursor for ATP, it is likely that a lack of ATP (or increased levels of ADP and AMP) provide a signal to derepress the HIS3 gene and generate AICAR (which will subsequently end up as ATP). Indeed, cross-pathway regulation between purine and histidine biosynthesis has been found in yeast and involves the transcription factors BAS1 and BAS2. A reasonable explanation for the ade⁺ phenotype conferred by the plasmid, is therefore that the plasmid gives rise to ATP hydrolysis in the cytoplasm, thereby effecting the concentrations of adenine nucleotides in the cytoplasm.

Importantly, this truncated β subunit from Phaffia rhodozyma that was encoded on pATPbeta, included the region of the β subunit which is thought to encode the catalytic site for ATP hydrolysis. The truncation of the N-terminal part of the β subunit probably means that the protein will no longer be exported into the mitochondrion, but should stay within the yeast cytoplasm.

The truncated β subunit pATPbeta is expressed from a gal promoter, i.e. it can be induced with galactose. If the truncated β subunit encoded by the clone is active in ATP hydrolysis it should result in a decrease in the growth yield, and at sufficiently high expression level, we should also observe inhibition of growth. The strain which expressed the truncated β subunit and a control strain (which contained a plasmid pHIS3 containing a HIS3 gene from Phaffia rhodozyma), were streaked on plates containing galactose as the energy source, which will give maximal expression of the truncated β subunit. Indeed, the growth of the strain which expressed the truncated β subunit was strongly inhibited by the presence of galactose, whereas the control strain grew normally. As a control, the growth of the two strains were also compared on a plate containing glucose as the energy source, conditions under which the expression of the β subunit should be repressed, and indeed we observed little difference in growth of the two strains on these plates, see table 6.

Subsequently, for the purpose of the physiological investigations, the two strains were converted into Rho⁻ strains (petit mutants, defective in oxidative phosphorylation) by standard treatment with ethidium bromide. The induction with galactose caused even stronger inhibition of growth in the Rho⁻ background, which further indicates that the cause of the growth inhibition is uncoupled ATP hydrolysis in the cytoplasm.

TABLE 6 Effect of expression of a truncated F₁-ATPase β subunit from Phaffia rhodozyma in S. cerevisiae on SC plates Strain/plasmid SC-ura + glucose SC-ura + galactose Rho⁺/pATPbeta +++++ + Rho⁺/pHIS3 ++++ +++ Rho⁻/pATPbeta +++++ − Rho⁻/pHIS3 ++++ +++

Growth experiments were performed to measure the resulting changes in the ATP/ADP ratio and the degree of stimulation of the glycolytic flux and ethanol formation, essentially as described in the examples above, and to show that the truncated β subunit from Phaffia rhodozyma is active with respect to converting ATP into ADP in the yeast cell.

EXAMPLE 9 Expression of F₁-ATPase β subunit from Trichoderma reesei in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In this example we show that the expression of the F₁-ATPase β subunit from the filamentous fungus, Trichoderma reesei can be used to improve the product formation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The gene encoding the F₁-ATPase β subunit homologue from Trichoderma reesei was isolated from a cDNA library, inserted into a multicopy expression vector, pAJ401. DNA sequencing (SEQ ID 16) revealed that the cloned gene had very high homology to the β subunits from Neurospora crassa (91% identity), Kluyveromyces lactis (68%) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (68%). Importantly, the first 43 amino acids in this β subunit, which encodes the signal for exporting the protein into the mitochondria, was homologous to the N-terminal part of the β subunit from Neurospora crassa (58% identity), but not to that of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is therefore likely that the β subunit from Trichoderma reesei will stay within the cytoplasm when expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This is important for the many cases where the fermentation is carried out anaerobically, because in these cases it is probably most efficient if the ATP hydrolysis takes place in the cytoplasm. Alternatively, in those cases where the β subunit is transported into the mitochondrion, it may be useful to genetically modify the β subunit so that is stays within the cytoplasm.

The gene encoding the F₁-ATPase β subunit homologue from Trichoderma reesei was expressed in S. cerevisiae strain VW1b (MAT alpha, leu2-3/112, ura3-52, trp1-289, his3D1, MAL2-8c, SUC2). To test whether the presence of the T. reesei β subunit resulted in ATP hydrolysis in the cytoplasm of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae host cells, we measured the intracellular concentrations of ATP, ADP and AMP, under various growth conditions in cultures of two strains expressing the β subunit (pATPβ34 and pATPβ44) and a strain carrying the vector plasmid, pFL60, see table 7.

TABLE 7 Effect of expression of T. reesei β subunit on ATP, ADP and AMP concentrations in S. cerevisiae ATP ADP AMP Strain μmol/gdw μmol/gdw μmol/gdw ATP/ADP ratio Aerobic/exp.phase pATPβ34 19.3 5.58 3.31 3.5 pATPβ44 13.9 5.15 3.25 2.7 pVECTOR 16.6 5.47 3.43 3.0 Aerobic/stat.phase pATPβ34 9.30 4.03 2.89 2.3 pATPβ44 8.99 3.90 2.42 2.3 pVECTOR 19.5 4.62 2.87 4.2 anaerobic/stat.phase pATPβ34 4.39 11.6 6.72 0.4 pATPβ44 3.14 10.5 6.65 0.3 pVECTOR 8.84 10.2 6.37 0.9 * according to Bergmeyer (1985)

The β subunit did not appear to have a significant effect on the concentrations of ATP, ADP and AMP in cells growing on glucose in the exponential growth phase. The reason is probably that the ATP concentration that the homeostatic control of ATP synthesis can here keep up with the extra drain on ATP conferred by the β subunit F₁-ATPase activity. Indeed, the growth rate of these cultures was unaffected by the presence of the F₁-ATPase activity, see table 7. But in the stationary cultures the concentration of ATP decreased significantly in the cultures expressing the β subunit, compared to the control. The effect was strongest in the anaerobically grown cultures where the ATP was lowered by a factor of 2-3. In these cultures, ATP must be generated through oxidative phosphorylation, (which is not even an option for the anaerobic cultures), and any effect of uncoupled ATP hydrolysis should therefore indeed be stronger in these cells.

Shake Flask Cultivations of Cultures Expressing the F₁-ATPase β Subunit Homologue in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Shake flask cultivations were performed under microaerobic/anaerobic conditions with volume ratio 1/1.25 and no agitation; with 400 ml growth media in 500 ml Erlenmeyers on magnetic stirring. The growth media contained 5 g/l of glucose and amino acids and bases according to synthetic complete medium (SC-ura+0.5% G). OD₆₀₀ was monitored during the cultivation (OD600=1.0 is equal to 0.3 g/l dry weight). Ethanol and glucose were measured with HPLC (Waters, Sugar-Pak or IC-Pak columns). Production of ethanol (grams of ethanol per grams of cell dry weight) is shown in Table 8.

TABLE 8 Effect of expression of T. reesei β subunit, on fluxes of ethanol and glucose in s. cerevisiae J_(gluc) J_(etoh) μ J_(gluc) J_(etoh) relative relative to Strain h⁻¹ g/h/gdw g/h/gdw to control control pATPβ34 0.40 2.811 1.190 107.7 105.6 pATPβ44 0.40 2.750 1.187 105.3 105.3 pVECTOR 0.39 2.611 1.127 100 100 control

These data show that the presence of the T. reesei F ₁-ATPase β subunit resulted in an increased flux of glucose, as well as ethanol, in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae host cells.

REFERENCES

-   Casabadan, M. J., and Cohen, S. N. (1980). J. Mol. Biol., 138,     179-207. -   Israelsen, H. (1995). Cloning and partial characterization of     regulated promoters from Lactococcus lactis Tn917-lacZ integrants     with the new promoter probe vector, pAK80. Appl. Environ.     Microbiol., 61, 2540-2547. -   Maniatis, T., Fritsch, E. F., and Sambrook, J., (1982). Molecular     cloning. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor,     N.Y. -   Miller, J. H., (1972). Experiments in molecular genetics, Cold     Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. -   Starck, M. J. R. (1987). Multicopy expression vectors carrying the     lac repressor gene for regulated high-level expression of genes in     Escherichia coli. Gene 51, 255-267. -   von Meyenburg, K., Joergensen, B. B., and van Deurs, B. (1984).     Physiological and morphological effects of overproduction of     membrane-bound ATP synthase in Escherichia coli K-12. EMBO J. 3,     1791-1797. -   Yanisch-Perron, C., Vieira, J., and Messing, J. (1985). Improved M13     phage cloning vectors and host strains: nucleotide sequences of the     M13mp18 and pUC19 vectors. Gene 33, 103-109. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of increasing the conversion rate of a sugar substrate by a cell or decreasing the production of biomass, said method comprising the steps of: (i) expressing an uncoupled ATPase activity in said cell resulting in inducing the conversion of ATP to ADP without primary effects on other cellular metabolites or functions, and (ii) incubating the cell with a suitable sugar substrate to achieve an increased conversion rate of said sugar or decreased production of biomass relative to the amount of sugar converted or biomass produced by a cell not expressing said uncoupled ATPase activity.
 2. A method according to claim 1, characterized by expressing in said cell the soluble part (F₁) of the membrane bound (F₀F₁ type) H⁺-ATPase or a portion of F₁ exhibiting ATPase activity.
 3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said cell is a prokaryotic cell.
 4. A method according to claim 3, wherein said cell is selected from the group consisting of bacteria belonging to the genera Lactococcus, Streptococcus, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Escherichia, Zymomonas, Bacillus and Pseudamonas.
 5. A method according to claim 1, wherein said cell is a eukaryotic cell.
 6. A method according to claim 5, wherein said cell is a yeast cell.
 7. A method according to claim 6, wherein said cell belongs to Saccharomyces cerevisiae or Trichoderma reesei.
 8. A method according to claim 1, wherein said cell is transformed or transfected with an expression vector including DNA encoding F₁ or a portion thereof exhibiting ATPase activity under the control of a promoter functioning in said cell, and said DNA is expresses in the cell.
 9. A method according to claim 8, wherein said DNA encoding F₁ or a portion thereof is homologous to said cell.
 10. A method according to claim 8, wherein said DNA encoding F₁ or a portion thereof is heterologous to said cell.
 11. A method according to claim 8, wherein said DNA encoding F.sub.1 or a portion thereof is derived from a prokaryotic organism.
 12. A method according to claim 11, wherein said DNA encoding F₁ or a portion thereof is derived from Escherichia coli, Lactococcus lactis or Streptococcus thermophilus and is selected from the group consisting of the gene encoding the F₁ subunit β or a portion thereof and various combinations of said gene or portion with the genes encoding the F₁ subunits δ, α, γ and ε or portions thereof.
 13. A method according to claim 12, wherein said DNA encoding F₁ or a portion thereof is selected from the group consisting of the Escherichia coli, Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactococcus lactis genes atpHAGDC (coding for subunits δ, α, γ, β, ε), atpAGDC (coding for subunits α, γ, β, ε), atpAGD (coding for subunits α, γ, β, ε), atpDC (coding for subunits β, ε) and atpD (coding for subunit β alone).
 14. A method according to claim 8, wherein said DNA encoding F.sub.1 or a portion thereof is derived from a eukaryotic organism.
 15. A method according to claim 14, wherein said DNA encoding F₁ or a portion thereof is derived from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Phaffia rhodozyma or Trichoderma reesei and is selected from the group consisting of the gene encoding the F₁ subunit β or a portion thereof and various combinations of said gene or portion with the genes encoding the other F₁ subunits or portions thereof. 